Wings
by ThanatosConnery
Summary: When Rainbow Dash was a young filly, she enjoyed a strange, but powerful connection to a supposedly mythical being from a distant land, one only achieved in slumber. Unfortunately, as time marched on and the two grew into stronger individuals, the link, in turn, began to grow weaker, eventually disappearing entirely. Of course though, nothing like that is truly lost forever.
1. Distant Fields

_Dear Journal,_

_Eh... you're not really a journal but whatever. I guess I'll just start typing. Reason? Well, the drome's shrink thinks it'll help us lower our stress if we write our thoughts out, even if they're only going to be kept personal._

_Hmmm.._

_Well... at least I hope they will... if Arty ever finds these logs he's never gonna let it down. Going to let it*.. meh, whatever. Why should I bother with proper grammar, anyway? Nobody... or nopony as she used to say, (heh), is ever going to read these anyway. Besides, why use proper grammar in the first place as long as people can still understand what yur sayin?_

_Whoops, I think I've gone off the rails a bit._

_Anyway, to get back on topic, I should make a note here to burn these when I'm done, Arty won't ever be able to find them that way. Ashes to ashes and dust to dust and all that good stuff... unless Arty really is one of them magic British Wiccan folk I've heard of. Sounds crazy, but crazy is something I've been introduced to in the past. Basically, what I'm sayin is that If you're reading this Arty, Im onto you._

_Alright, enough rambling. Time to get to the juicy bits._

_I guess I'll start by saying it's time like these that I really miss her, my good ole friend. Heh, I haven't even flown my first sortie and yet... god I wish she were beside me. I still remember the time I met her, oh so long ago but there before my eyes whenever I want it to be, so vivid it's like it was just yesterday. _

_Mmmmph..._

_Well that was uncharacteristically poetic of me. I'm a simple man, nevermore. Anyway, here's what went down:_

* * *

Before him, all a young Thomas Mayflower could see were bright yellow cornstalks, them flowing lightly in a warm Alabama summer's breeze as he made his way through their towering presences. He giggled as he held up a menacing looking rifle before taking a couple of shots at a gray longcoat wearing soldier who had suddenly popped out of the corn before him, his gun jutting towards his shoulder and emitting two loud bangs.

"Take that, ya lousy hun!"

With that target down, he quickly twirled about, his eyes going wide as he two more fully grown, gas mask wearing soldiers charged towards him, their guns as real to him as his, and their shining black boots tramping down in the dirt. With that, a sense of panic came over him.

"Gotta get back to base!" he shouted desperately to nobody in particular.

With that, he turned about and began to run, the body of the previous soldier he had downed no longer there. Despite the fact the soldiers were twice his size, when he looked over his shoulder he saw he had made it ahead of them by a large margin. He grinned at his success before beginning to zig-zag as the two soldiers began to take shots at him. Rifle bullets kicked up dirt and tour through corn-stalks all around him, the enemy naturally being terrible at aiming.

"My pa could shoot better than you guys blindfolded!" he called, turning his head again and sticking out his tongue at the black gas masked figures.

He heard inhuman growls from them before he picked up his pace; eventually growing so far ahead he made a gut call that they he probably wasn't even visible anymore. With that, he made a quick left and jutted down a long path between two rows of corn, hoping the soldiers would pass right by him. One of the gas masked soldiers seemed to grow a brain at that point, however, and began tracking the light tracks the young child made, following his turn.

Thomas' eyes grew wide at this. With that, he twirled about, dropped to one knee, brought his rifle to his shoulder, and looked down its sights. At the same time, the figure raised its own rifle menacingly.

"Should have followed yer buddy!" Thomas called, before preparing to pull the trigger.

However, before he did so, he caught something peculiar out of the corner of his eyes. He looked towards it, and through the swaying corn stalks he saw something moving towards the soldier. He couldn't make out exactly what it was, but its odd color was easily noted: light blue.

"Hiiiiiyaaaa!" a voice yelled as a something darted out of the nearest row of corn to his right, straight at the gas-masked figure. Strangely though, it didn't seem to disturb the corn as it did so, and the same went for his soldier. Instead, it leapt upwards a foot or so before flying right through it. At this point, he could see what it was, and he couldn't believe his own eyes. It was a small, light cyan pony, probably a filly.

He raised his eyebrows. A talking pony? Why had he imagined that of all things?

The pony grunted in disappointment at its failed tackle before actually standing on hind legs and attempting to bring two hooves down upon the soldier. However, those too went right through it. His eyebrows rose even further. He had never seen ponies do that before either... but then again, it did talk.

At this point, the soldier was no longer reacting. Instead, it was actually starting to fade from existence as Thomas' mind's full attention was turned on the pony. After all, it was just his imagination's creation.

"Hey, what gives?!" the pony complained, its voice a bit high-pitched and squeaky though not annoying. Instead, he actually found it to be sort of adorable.

Sensing that this figment of his mind was not hostile like the soldiers, Thomas began to creep towards it slowly, holding his wooden gun in a neutral stance as he did so. The pony seemed to take notice of his presence at that point, causing Thomas to halt in his tracks, gripping his toy rifle nervously. Something seemed wrong. This... this pony didn't feel like it was a part of his imagination, yet how could she (it sounded like a she) see the soldier he had conjured up, and how had it not moved the corn stalks when it passed through?

"You're not going to disappear too, are you?" she asked, quirking her head at him slightly. She then sighed, shaking it in a slightly exasperated manner before looking down towards the ground and kicking at the dirt with a hoof. "Man, this is the weirdest dream ever..."

Thomas raised an eyebrow at this curiously. Apparently his imaginary friend was a bit confused, though still, she didn't seem to be that mean.

"Well uh... I can't really disappear," Thomas said slowly. "Because I'm real. The soldier was just a part of my imagination."

"Yeah you can! You'll disappear when I wake up!" the young pony squeaked matter-of-factually, gaining an annoyed glance from Thomas.

"This aint any dream. You're part of _my_ imagination!"

The pony shook her head, the rainbow colored mane she had flowing about. It was another peculiar thing about her. He had never seen any pony with such a colorful complexity before. This was all just too strange... he had imagined some weird things before, but they were all based around things he had seen. The soldiers he was fighting, for instance, were based around pictures of foreign troops he had once seen in school.

"Nuh uh!" she said.

"Yuh huh!" Thomas replied.

The pony then smirked. "Well then, if I'm part of your imagination then make me disappear!"

Thomas frowned. "How about you make _me_ disappear then, if I'm part of _your_ dream!"

"Fine!" the pony huffed.

"Fine!" Thomas grunted.

With that, he saw the pony squint as if she was entering a mode of deep concentration. Thomas soon did the same, trying his best to force the pony from existence. It wasn't anything personal, she seemed somewhat nice, and had also tried to save him from the soldier he had conjured up (although he didn't really need it so), but his pride wasn't going to allow him to be beaten by any figment of his imagination, so he'd just make her go away for a second to prove to her that he was the real deal... and then bring her back right afterwards. After telling his mind to do just that, he then opened his eyes, expecting her to be poofed into nothingness, only to see she was still there.

After a second, she opened her eyes as well before letting a bit of steam out of her snout in what Thomas guessed was annoyance.

"How come you're still here?!" she cried.

Thomas frowned at that. "How come _you're _still here?!"

"I don't know!" she said.

"Well neither do I," Thomas huffed before turning away from her, his arms folded as he held his wooden rifle with one hand. After a quick second though, a slight smile crept on his face. At the very same time, a flock of butterflies were beginning to fly from his stomach to his throat.

He then began to chuckle... and that chuckle quickly swelled to a laugh.

"What's so funny?" the pony's voice said, it sounding a bit agitated.

Thomas turned around to meet her, his laughter dying but his smile never following. "It's just... both of us are trying to make the other going away when... well... maybe we're both real?"

The pony narrowed her eyebrows. "B-But... you're just something in my dream!" she said, exasperated. "I remember falling asleep just a second ago... How could you be real?"

Thomas shrugged. "I'm not sure, but like my pa always says, 'there's some things in life ya just can't explain'. Maybe this is one of em'."

"I've never even seen anything like you before, though.. what are you?"

"Well I'm..." Thomas lowered his eyebrows, lifting and tilting his head upward in a thinking position. "I'm a person!" he finally concluded. "But... how could you never hear of a person before? You're a pony!"

The pony made what looked like a shrug at that. "I've never heard of any creature called a person before, sorry."

Thomas then brought a hand to his chin, a lightbulb switching on over his head. "Well, I guess that makes sense. You've never heard of a person before and I've never heard of a talking pony that can go right through corn stalks like it aint nothing." His eyebrows then rose at that. "Wait, are you a ghost pony?!"

"Nope, I'm a pegasus pony!" she said, her voice laced with pride as she wiggled a set of pint-sized wings attached to her. They sort of looked like a chicken's to Thomas.

The young boy smirked with a narrowed eyebrow. "Hey, pegasuses aren't ponies! They're horses!"

The filly stuck her tongue out. "Nuh uh! I'm as much of a pegasus as a pegasus gets, and one day I'm going to be the fastest flier in all of Equestria!"

"Equestri-wah?" Thomas said, blinking.

The pony narrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "You've never heard of Equestria, before?" She then gazed about her curiously, as if that would explain where her present position was. "Where am I, then?"

"You're in Tristone, Alabama," Thomas announced, a small smile forming on his lips.

"Oh..." the pony said. "Well, I'm not really sure where that is... but I guess it doesn't matter anyway. I know this is just a dream. I'll be up soon in my own bed back in Cloudsdale."

"B-But..." Thomas said, ignoring the fact she had just mentioned another strange location. "What if you _are_a ghost? I mean... you can move right through stuff..."

"Don't say things like that! That's a scary thought..." the pony said, shivering slightly.

Thomas put on an apologetic frown. "Sorry..."

"You'd better be," she teased, a mischievous grin crossing her face. "Cus if I were a ghost, I might come and haunt you!"

She then took a menacing step forward. Thomas put on a look of playful fear. "No! Anything but that!"

The pony gave a playful growl before pouncing towards him. "You better run! Here I come!"

With that, the filly began to chase the young boy, them prancing about all day as if they had known each other for years despite their unusual circumstances, their giggles echoing throughout the corn field under a fading sky.

* * *

_It's sort of weird how I never even asked her her name before we got right to it. I guess she was just so... open to friendship. Hmph, ya know, now that I'm thinking, I'm REALLY glad the shrink isn't asking to see these notes. I'd look nuttier than the Three Stooges in a walnut factory. Hehe, and just wait til I get a little further in time too, gooooood lordie. Anyway, guess I'll type up a bit more tomorrow, I'm feelin like a drink or two..._

_Hmm..._

_I wonder if Arty is still hangin out in the woods. Maybe he's finally stopped spending his money on those weird herbs and will have enough to buy a scotch with me for once..._


	2. Across the Void

_So... training is finally over. I'll be on actual combat alert tomorrow. It's a bit quick of a jump, but the Brits need every pilot in the sky they can get, and that includes lil' ole me. The Spitfire's a nice plane, or so the instructor has told us. It's definitely better than the old crop dusters they first had us flying, I'll give it that. They say she turns better than the hun 109's, so at least we have them beaten on the maneuverability front. We also have more guns than em' on our planes, and the more guns the merrier I suppose..._

_Still..._

_Though I hate to admit it..._

_I'm as yellow as a schoolboy on his first date right now._

_It's not a bad thing though, right? Captain Harkness always says that a little fear won't kill ya. I think I get where he's comin from, too. It keeps the mind sharp and the body quick, but it sure isn't helpin' me sleep right now. What good is having a bit of fear in ya when having zero sleep will royally screw you anyway? I guess that's why I'm here, typin' away my thoughts in the R&R area at two in the mornin. I dun feel guilty though, everyone else is still wide-eyed._

_Guess I'll continue off where I was yesterday, thinkin bout back before I got mixed up in another country's war. After me n' the pony played for a bit, eventually we made our way back to mah house. At this point, despite the fact she had the ability to walk through solid matter, I was thoroughly convinced she wasn't just a figment of my imagination. Crazy, right? Heh, mom didn't really think so. I guess she knew kids a lot more than I gave her credit for._

* * *

"Thomas, where have ya been all day?" His mother called as he entered the kitchen, her currently working on some sort of culinary masterpiece at the counter, or at least they always were to him.

"Playin' in the corn fields. Managed to kill me bout two huns!" he beamed proudly.

His mother gave him a worried glance at that. "Two huns, huh?" she said slowly. "You sure there aren't any other imaginary games you'd rather be playing?"

Thomas thought for a second before putting on a gleeful grin. "Well... actually... I kind of met someone today."

He gestured towards the multi-colored maned pony, standing behind him and glancing about the kitchen curiously. His mother looked to where he pointed, a confused look crossing her face for a second before she put on a knowing smile.

"Ooooooh, I see. And what is your friend's name?"

Thomas thought for a second before realizing that he hadn't actually asked. He then glanced towards the pony, a slightly guilty though curious expression on his face. "Hey uh... what is your name, anyway?"

"Rainbow Dash!" she said proudly, before moving over towards Thomas' mother. "Nice to meet you, miss Thomas' mom."

"Heeeeeeeeyyyy..." Thomas said. "How did you know _my_ name? I never told ya it!"

Rainbow Dash chuckled. "Your mom just said it a second ago, ya dummy!" she then glanced about the room with mock wonder. "Unless there's another Thomas in the room?"

"Oh... uhhhh..." Thomas blushed slightly. "I knew that!"

"Suuuuuureeee," she giggled.

Thomas turned back to his mom at that, her holding a bemused look on her face. "Your friend seems very nice, Thomas. Would you two like to help me make dinner?"

"Well, I'll definitely help but... Rainbow Dash can't really... touch stuff."

His mom chuckled at that for some reason before saying. "Oh, is she a ghost then?"

"Heeeeeeeyyy..." Rainbow Dash grumbled. "What's with everypony thinking I'm a ghost? I know I'm not dead or nothing!"

"It's alright Rainbow, I know yur not a ghost," Thomas reassured her. He then turned back towards his mother. "If it's alright, ma, I'd like to show Rainbow round the house a bit. She aint from this world and dun know about all the neat stuff we have."

"Oh, so she's a spaceman then," his mother said, her bemused smile not faultering.

"A space pony," Thomas corrected, holding up a finger.

His mom chuckled at that, though she raised a slight eyebrow. "Ahhhh, I see. Well, that's alright dear. Go ahead and give her the tour before it's time to eat. Your pa should be home pretty soon."

"Thanks, ma!" Thomas said.

With that, the two left the kitchen and made their way into the adjacent living room.

"Your house is really weird," Rainbow said. "Nothing's made of clouds and it's got all these strange thingies I've never seen before." She gestured towards a nearby radio at that.

Thomas chuckled. "So, my house is the one that's weird huh?"

Rainbow ignored the comment, tilting her head slightly in curiosity at the nobbed device. "What is this thing anyway?"

"Its called a radio," Thomas explained. "You can hear people talkin from miles away with it."

"Can you talk back?" asked Rainbow.

"Well... no. You can only listen to em." With that, Thomas demonstrated how the radio worked by flipping a switch on its wooden side. Immediately, a powerful, but reassuring voice filled the room, though it still startled Rainbow slightly.

_"Two months ago we were facing serious problems. The country was dying by inches. It was dying because trade and commerce had declined to dangerously low levels; prices for basic commodities were such as to destroy the value of the assets of national institutions such as banks, savings banks, insurance companies, and others..."_

"Who's that?" Rainbow asked, her quickly recovering from her initial shock as the man continued to speak.

"He's called Roosevelt, the guy in charge of my country," Thomas said. A warm smile etched across his lips. "My pap always says he's gonna be the one to fix it up with somethin' he calls the _New Deal._"

"What's wrong with your country? Doesn't your prince take care of things?"

Thomas shook his head, a perplexed expression crossing his face. "Well... he's not really a prince. We don't really have princess' here, that's somethin' they had back in medieval times. He's called a president, I think."

"Your president must be kind of bad if he broke your country, then," Rainbow said.

"Well, he wasn't the guy who broke it," Thomas said. "My pap always says it was the 'fat cat money grubbing sons of-'" He paused at that. "Heh, I'm not really supposed to say the last word. Anyway, the ones who came before the current one were the ones who did it."

Rainbow's eyes widened at that. "So wait, your leaders don't stay leaders?"

Thomas shook his head. "Nope, they're elected every four years I think. Everyone around the country says who they want to be the leader and that person is made it. How's it like where you come from?"

"Well, we only have one leader, and she stays that way. Actually, I think she's been that way for like... forever."

The young boy raised an eyebrow. "Now that don't make sense. How can someone be a leader forever? Nobody can live that long."

"Our's can," Rainbow said, though Thomas could tell she wasn't trying to brag. "She does more than just lead, though. She controls the sun and the moon."

"You're pullin' my leg," Thomas laughed.

"I'm serious! At least, that's what everypony says."

"Well, that's the strangest thing I've ever heard," the boy said, bewildered. "Then again, I am talkin to a pony. Might as well just accept it."

The two giggled at that before a few seconds of silence filled the room.

"Hey Thomas..." Rainbow said.

"Yeah?"

"You don't think I'm... dead or somethin, right?"

Thomas threw her a look of concern. "Of course not. I mean... if you were dead shouldn't you be in pony heaven or something like that?"

Rainbow smiled at that. "You mean the Great Galloping Planes?"

"Well, whatever they call it where you come from."

"I guess that's true..." Rainbow said, before glancing away from him slightly. "But... what if there aren't any Galloping Planes?"

"That's just crazy talk. Gotta be some place ya go when you die, and my pa always says that 'we're rewarded for our struggles as long as we keep our dignity.'" Thomas said. "And I can tell you're a good person, pony... whatever, and since all good persons go to heaven, the same should be true with ponies."

"But... how else can I explain all this?" Rainbow asked. "I've never had a dream like this before. I don't want to stay here forever..."

Thomas put on a disappointed frown at that. Did she not really like him or something?

Rainbow Dash took notice of it before smiling slightly. "That doesn't mean I don't want to stay here a bit! I like you, Tom, you're a lot nicer than many of the pegasi I know..."

The young boy brightened at that, though he quickly narrowed his eyebrows. "Why would anyone not be nice to you?" Tom asked, his voice filled with an almost brotherly concern.

Rainbow looked away from him at that. "It's nothing..."

The young boy smiled her way. "Come on, you can tell me."

The pegasus glanced at him hopefully. "You won't make fun of me if I do, right?"

"I wouldn't make fun of anyone unless they deserved it," Tom stated. "It aint like a gentleman to do so."

"Well, alright... I'll tell you." Rainbow then sighed shamefully before looking towards her two chicken-like wings. "It's cus... I'm stunted..."

"Stunted?"

"It means my wings aren't growing as fast as the other fillies'..." she said softly. "A lot of others can fly already but... I'm stuck as a dodo."

Thomas threw her a look of sympathy, before narrowing his eyebrows slightly. "If I knew the ponies who were makin' fun of you for that, I'd definitely give em' a talkin too."

"Why? It's true... I am a dodo..." she said, her eyes growing a bit moist. At the look of them, Tom's righteous anger continued to swell in him.

"I don't care watcha are. Nobody should be makin' fun of someone for somethin' out of their control. Besides, I don't think it's anything to be ashamed of."

"How's it not something to be ashamed of? I mean sure... you can't fly, but I'm a pegasus! We were _born_for the skies."

Thomas threw her a stern look. "You said you were gonna be the fastest flier in Equestria one day, so you know what that makes me think?"

Rainbow Dash stood silent.

"I think when you finally can fly, you're gonna work ten times harder than anybody else to become the best you can be just to shove their words in their faces. Am I right about that?"

The pony then looked towards him, a slight smile forming once again as she brushed away a few tears. "Yeah... you're right." Her smile then widened, it becoming one of resolve. "In fact, I'm going to be freakin' awesome!"

* * *

_Heh, I was a wise little kid sometimes, though it was my pa's doing really. I used to hang off his every word, and I'm glad I did so. From that moment forward, me and Rainbow Dash would have each other's backs, though neither of us knew it at the time. There was much we had to learn of each other and of our special connection, one I still don't understand to this day. However, I do know for a fact that it was real, and so was she._


	3. I'd Like to Make Myself Believe

_I used to be a much different person than I am now. In fact, I think I've gone through four different ways of living so far, my third one being the most terrible. However, I won't get into that right now. The first one I don't hold anything against myself for, though. I was just a kid. However, I sometimes think without the little... push I got I'd never be out of it._

_After my cheesy little motivational speech I gave Rainbow, we began to talk a bit about this and that. Her life, my life, the works. My ma poked a curious head into the living room occasionally. Oddly, I honestly didn't know she thought Rainbow was just an imaginary friend to me at the time. Truth be told, both me n' Rainbow thought that she was as visible to her as she was to me. Bit funny looking back at it that I didn't pay any mind to her not reactin' to a talking pony bein in the kitchen, but I was just a kid. For all I knew, maybe my ma had already known about Rainbow's kind as far-fetched as that seems to me now._

_Anyway, a good fifteen minutes of that later, I decided to go ahead and show Rainbow the pride of every nine year old kid: his room, and honestly I don't think there's anyone else who would have reacted to it with such interest._

* * *

The door to it creaked open, kicking up a bit of small dust particles that shined like tiny orbs in the beam of light emanating from his lone window.

"Woah, you have a lot of books!" was Rainbow's immediate reaction, her walking over to gaze upon a small bookshelf across from Tom's bed.

Tom raised an eyebrow at this. He really only had about nine or so.

"Does Equestria not have many of em' or something?" he asked her.

"Well, most books are in libraries. Cloudsdale has a pretty huge one, actually, but I think you can only check out so many at a time. Is your library different or something?"

Tom smiled pridefully at that. "Nope, these are all mine. Dad's been keepin' em in shape for years and passed em' down to me for my fifth birthday."

Rainbow raised her eyebrows. "Weird. Not many people actually _own_ books in Equestria. I think it's because of the trouble it takes to make them. My family definitely doesn't have enough money to buy many. Doesn't really matter that much to me, though, I don't really read often." Tom held back a disappointed look as the pony leaned in to gaze at their titles a little more closely. "Jules Verne?"

He brightened at that. "He wrote a bunch of good novels bout thirty years passed. People are already calling em' classics." With that, he reached over and grabbed one of them. "This one's called _Fifty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea_. It's bout' a man who takes a trip with a crazy guy called Captain Nemo in his big ole submarine."

"Where to?" Rainbow asked.

"To a bunch of places, I think, I haven't actually finished it yet." He chuckled slightly. "Still workin' on the War of the Worlds. Now that there is a good book. It's about a bunch of aliens comin' down and Great Britain, another country, tryin' to fight em' off, and it's got plenty of action."

Rainbow smirked at him slightly. "You sound like such an egg-head, no offense."

"Heh, none taken. It keeps me busy after school n' work on the farm. I dun mind it one bit."

The pony's attention was then caught by another object in the room.

"What's that? It looks sort of familiar."

"Oh, that's mah violin."

Rainbow raised her eyebrows. "Hey, we have those!"

"Say wah?" Tom chuckled. "How in the hey do you play it with those hooves of yours?"

The pony shrugged. "We manage. It's weird, actually, your family has a lot of stuff we do back home."

A moment of silence followed before Thomas gazed at her curiously. "Say Rainbow... do you still think you're in a dream or dead or somethin'?"

A beat.

Rainbow sighed at that, rubbing a hoof across Tom's wooden floor. "I'm not even sure what to think anymore. I guess I'll find out soon enough, though. No point in fretting about what might be."

The young farm boy smiled at her. "Don't worry, Rainbow, I'm sure you'll be back home in a jiffy."

The pony nodded at that, though Tom could tell she wasn't entirely convinced. "So, do you know how to play anything?" Rainbow asked.

"Well... not really," Tom said in a somewhat shameful tone. "I started takin' lessons when I was four, though my teacher mainly just had me playin' what she called rudiments; scales and arpeggios, that kind of thing. She says I've got 'creative spirit', whatever that is, and that I should focus on my coordination. I dun take lessons with her no more, though... when money became tight for her she moved away to New York City, the biggest in the country, to live in a place called Hooverville."

"Hooverville?"

Tom glanced away from her. "It's where the really poor folk go..."

"Oh..." Rainbow said, eagerly looking for a way to change the subject. "Well, how about you play me what was cool to her, then."

The young boy raised an eyebrow. "Cool?"

"Oh, it uh... means 'good'," she then grinned slightly. "Or awesome, like I'm sure you are at it." Her grin then turned mischievous. "Now go ahead and play, or are you too shy?"

Tom narrowed his eyes. "Ya callin' me yellow?"

Rainbow smirked. "Only if you don't play me something."

"Hmph, well I aint' no coward. I'll play ya somethin'," he then smile somewhat sweetly. "But only cus I like ya, Dashie."

The young filly's face sagged at that, her eyes widening with a hint of disbelief. "Dashie?"

Tom threw her a worried glance. "Don't ya like it?"

"Of course I like it!" she beamed, though her expression was becoming even more solemn. "It's just... it's the first nickname I've gotten that's actually... nice."

Tom nodded at that with a determined smile. "Then it's stickin'." With that, he put on a voice of mock royal authority. "From hence forth I dub thee, _Dashie_!"

Rainbow giggled at that before glancing at Tom's violin once again. "Hey, I see what you did there..."

The young boy threw her a look of genuine confusion. "Wah? What did I do?"

"You tried to change the subject so you'd get out of playing for me. You that scared?"

"Heck no I aint scared!" He declared.

Rainbow grinned in anticipation as Tom donned his bow and violin, him strumming the strings lightly to make sure it was in tune. Luckily, he had just done so yesterday. "Well, here goes nothin'."

And so he began to play, neurons and synapses firing away to bring forth sparks of creativity. He started with something simple, a brief melody he had written the other day before building off of it. Soon enough, he was playing an intricate tune in a fast tempo completely off the top of his head. He could see his pony friend's eyes widen in awe at it, bringing a smile across Tom's lips. He continued to play for minute or so before finishing off with the most complex maneuver he could muster, eager to impress his new friend. He pulled it off somewhat decently before taking a deep breath and glancing Dashie's way.

A moment of silence followed as Rainbow remained silent. Tom began to grow a bit worried at that, though it was soon relieved when Rainbow began to pound her hooves on the floor in what he guessed was the Equestrian equivalent of applauding.

"That was awesome, Tom!" she beamed, forcing a grin on him. "Seriously, that was so cool!"

Tom blushed slightly. "Shucks, it weren't nething'."

She then chuckled. "You 'persons' must have a weird way of defining 'nething', then."

The young lad rolled his eyes, though he sat down his violin with an accomplished smile.

"So, are you going to become a musician when you're older or something?" she asked.

Tom glanced to the side. "Well... maybe, but well... that'd take so much work... I think I'd rather just work on the farm."

"Oh come on! You're just going to let that go to waste!?"

The farm boy rolled his eyes. "You sound just like ma pa'."

As if fate had tugged a few of the universe's strings, a knock soon came to his door at that as well as a deep, but warm voice. "Tom, mind if ah' come in?"

With that, the boy turned to Rainbow. "It's him! Wait til ya meet him, he's the greatest in the world!"

Rainbow rolled her eyes. "And yet you don't listen to his advice about your talent."

Tom ignored the comment, turning back to the door. "Come on in, dad."

With that, the door creaked open to reveal the boy's father, his eyes calculating yet loving, and his body soaked with the sweat of labor. Immediately, he let loose a heart-felt smile at the sight of his son.

"Hey kid," he said, glancing at the violin lying at the boy's feet. "I heard ya playin' a second ago."

Tom sighed inwardly, immediately trying to avoid a topic he knew was coming. "How'd work go today, dad? Did them niggers give you trouble, again?"

His father gave him stern expression at those words, his voice somehow deepening even more. "I told ya not to call em' that. They're good hard workers, they're just facing hard times cus of the depression, worse then everyone else."

"But my teacher says-"

His father held up a finger. "Your teacher is a smart lady, but her mind's been twisted by her husband. Don't be listenin' to her bout nething to do with races and all that."

"What's a nigger?" Rainbow whispered.

Tom shook her his head her way, trying his best to avoid that sort of conversation before turning it back to his dad and reluctantly saying, "alright then, pa." He then turned to Dashie. "By the way, this is my new friend, Rainbow Dash!"

His dad smiled slightly at that. "Ah, your mother told me bout her. So she's a pony, huh?"

Tom shook his head. "Not just a pony, a pegasus pony! And she's the... the..." he then smirked. "The_coolest_ pony in the world!"

His father chuckled, "You kids and this new slang of yours."

Rainbow Dash smiled at that. "Nice to meet ya, Mr. Thomas!"

To Tom's confusion, his father ignored the pony's introduction. He grew a bit worried at that. Did his father not approve of him having a pony friend or something? He turned towards Rainbow Dash, her expression a mix between offended and dissapointed.

"Uh... pa... aren't ya goin' to say hello?"

His father raised his eyebrows before sighing slightly. "Son... I can't really hear her. That's the thing about... that kind of friend. They're only visible and can talk only ta' you."

With that, Rainbow and Tom both glanced at each other with perplexed and slightly worried expressions.

"B-But, your mom could see me!" Rainbow cried.

Tom shook his head. "I don't get it either... but... I still know you're not a ghost! You are as real as day!" He then turned back towards his father. "You're sure you don't hear her... a little bit?"

His father shook his head. "Sorry son, that aint how it works." He then leaned down on one knee. "But I will tell ya this, if ya can see and hear her then she's real enough."

The boy sighed at that, turning back to Rainbow. "Don't worry, if my pa' says you're real then you're real."

"I'm sure she is, son. Anyway, have you finished your homework for the day?"

Tom's eyes widened slightly, a nervous smile coming upon his face. "Uhhhh... yeah, pa!"

His father narrowed his eyebrows. "Mind letting me take a look at it?"

The boy glanced to the side at that. "Well... I would... but..." he quickly snapped his head towards Rainbow Dash. "Dashie got uh... really hungry and... ate it!"

"Hey, no I didn't!" Rainbow objected.

Tom glanced at her with a pleading expression for some reason, despite the fact his father couldn't hear her. He then turned back towards his father, a skeptical, but slightly bemused expression coming on the weary worker's face.

"Oh, she did, did she?" he said with a slight smile.

Tom shook his head 'yes' rapidly.

His father nodded towards underneath his bed. "Mind if I see your work folder, then?"

"Uhhhhh..." He said, his brain trying desperately to think of a way to get out of this situation. "Can I show you it... after dinner?" he asked with a sheepish smile.

"Tom..."

The boy sighed, kicking at the floor slightly.

"Alright... I didn't do it."

Upon his father's face came the one thing Tom hated to see, disappointment. "Son, you do this nearly three times every week. Your mother and I are getting worried about your grades."

The boy frowned solemnly. "But... I don't see the point of it. It aint no fun."

With that, a smile came upon the man's wrinkled face. "It's alright, kid. I know school must be tough, but you shouldn't take it for granted. When I was growin' up I couldn't even go to school, and you're very lucky we can afford it now." He then placed a dirt-caked single hand on his son's shoulder. "Don't waste this opportunity, kid. You've got so much potential, and I don't want these hard times to get you down. Things _will_ get better, and they'll get better soon. If you work hard now you'll have a better shot at getting into secondary school, and there's a few government programs Roosovelt is setting up that can help pay for it if ya do well."

He then gazed at him sternly. Hopeful eyes of a weary old soldier pleading with his offspring to take road he couldn't ever have traveled.

"I don't want you to end up like me. I want to see you _fly_, son."

"Listen to him, Tom!" Rainbow encouraged. "I don't know if we'll see each other again soon, but how about we make each other a promise, right here, right now? One day, I'll be the fastest flier in Equestria, and you'll be the best violin player in America!" She paused a second before shaking her head. "No, your whole freakin' world!"

Tom shook his head, glancing at both Dashie and his father. "I don't know..."

"You can do it, Tom," Rainbow encouraged.

With that, Tom sighed in defeat and looked directly into his father's eyes. "Alright, I promise I'll try harder."

His father couldn't smile prouder at that.

* * *

_And so I was on course to entering my second way of living. Of course, one little motivational speech wouldn't set me on in just like that. It wasn't going to be a fun road, but it seemed to be a good one to take... for the time. However, now though, I sort of wish I had taken the road not traveled... but enough about that. There's still a pretty big story to tell, the story nobody will ever read. This whole typin thing seems to be calmin me a bit, so I might as well keep doin it til I start feelin' really sleepy._

_Alright fingers, here we go!_


	4. That Planet Earth Turns Slowly

_I decided to go to the kitchen a second ago. Chef Brown made some good fish n' chips the other day, and there was supposed to be leftovers. There, I ran into Arty. It wasn't a surprise, he's the biggest night owl I've ever meant, threat of impending death or no threat of impending death. Of course, he couldn't ever hope to do that alone. There he was, making a batch of coffee, and bein a nice fellah he offered me a bit. Now normally I would like a cup of that beautiful stuff but getting one at this hour wouldn't be such a bright idea._

_"I'm just going to say screw it and stay up all night. There's no way I'm getting any sleep," he says._

_"You're crazy," I says. "A little sleep is better than none."_

_"Oh just hush up and get back to writing about your imaginary friend."_

_Nope. I didn't just make that up._

_I don't think there's any feasible way I could have been more shocked at that. Seriously? What the hell, Arty?_

_"How did you-"_

_He smirked at me. "I'm a bloody Wiccan, remember? I have eyes... everywhere!"_

_Alright, now that I think of it he was probably just joking, and he probably just peeked through the rec room's window to see what I was typing the other day, the nosey little hawk-eyed redcoat, but just in case... I'm never messing with Arty. Ever. I just hope somebody doesn't take him seriously one of these days, though. There's still a lot of crazies in Cardiff who might throw him into Loch Treestone to see if he'll float. Honestly, I can't even remember how that whole joke got started now._

_Anyway, maybe I should just say screw it as well. I tried to sleep after the kitchen visit but my mind refuses to rest. Every time I think I'm about to stop depriving myself of REMs some new horrible idea about what could go wrong tomorrow pops up. I know we're going to be flying, too. The Germans bomb Cardiff's industrial zones nearly daily, there's no way I'm getting out of a sortie unless god smiles upon me and tries to keep the Germans at bay with one hell of a massive storm, and the weather forecast contradicts that hope._

_Still, I won't be going alone. The flight crew and I are really good friends, especially since I've risked my redneck ass coming over here to fight for most of em', and Captain Harkness definitely respects me, too. We'll have each other's backs through thick and thin, and we'll always be there to encourage each other until the Reaper comes knocking on our cockpits._

_However..._

_I still wish Dashie was here. I really do. I haven't seen her in years, though..._

_My memories of her will have to be enough for now, I suppose. However, there was a time when I thought that the universe's strange entanglement of our lives would only be briefly. It'd have to wait til after dinner, though._

_Everything can always wait til after dinner._

* * *

"Ewwww, what are you eating?" Rainbow asked, gazing upon his plate loaded with fresh potatoes, steak, and green beans.

"What? It's steak!" Tom said, cutting off another chunk of it and gobbling it up, his face oozing with pleasure. He then chuckled slightly. "Oh that's right, ponies are vegetarians."

"You bet we are!" she said. "I don't know how you can eat that stuff." She then stuck a tongue out in disgust.

Tom smirked. "Well, I would say 'have you ever even tried some before?' but I think your stomach might disagree with your mind."

"Hey! My stomach can handle anything yours can!" Rainbow argued.

"But that's not how it works, though. Ponies are herb-... herba-"

"Herbivores," Tom's father finished for him with a bemused smile, munching on a piece of steak of his own.

"What he said," the boy chuckled. "It's just how god made it. If you eat meat you might get sick er' something. Unless your kind of ponies are different..."

"Hmph," Rainbow grumbled. Her eyes then widened in horror. "Wait, what if I really am stuck here and can't eat!" she cried. Her stomach then growled slightly. "I'm already feeling kind of hungry..."

"Don't worry, I'm sure you're not stuck here permanently," Tom reassured her.

Rainbow nodded, though she was still visibly worried. She then glanced over his father's way curiously. He was digging into his food in a rather odd way. He used only one hand to do it, picking up his entire steak with a fork and taking a chunk off it instead of cutting pieces off with a knife. The reason for this was quite clear, however. One of his hands was flesh and blood, but the other was lost long ago. In place of it was nothing but a hook.

"Tom..." she whispered. "I don't want to be impolite but... your father..."

The boy sighed at that. "It's alright. But... I'd rather not talk bout it for now."

Rainbow nodded.

"Talk about what?" Tom's mother asked.

"Nothin' ma'." The boy said with a fake smile.

"Well, alright," she said. She then smiled slightly herself. "Your sure your friend doesn't want any green beans? Ponies can eat them."

Rainbow nodded eagerly at that, her eyes open wide in anticipation for the quelling of her stomach's demand. However, her face soon sagged after a brief second.

Tom sighed again slightly, gaining a somewhat confused glance from his mother. "Thanks, ma', but she can't nething right now unfortunately. She'll eat when she gets home."

"Ugggggggh," Rainbow groaned, rubbing a hoof on the floor in annoyance. "When I get back I'm going to have the biggest breakfast of my life. Watermelon, hay... more hay. Lots and lots of hay."

"So I hear you like hay," Tom said with a slight grin.

Dashie threw him an annoyed glance. "Smartbutt."

"Sorry, couldn't help it," he said.

"Way to make fun of a starving pegasus!" she snarked.

"I said I was sorry!" he replied, stiffening a laugh.

"What in the world are you two talking about?" his mom asked.

"Oh I was bein a wise guy and Rainbow got back at me."

"Ahhhh, I see." His mother then chuckled. "That is a very unique name she has, by the way."

Tom narrowed his eyebrows slightly. "What, don't you like it?"

"Of course I like it," his mother replied. "It's very... creative."

"Hey! My name is awesome!" Rainbow grumbled. "You persons are the ones with weird names."

Tom turned towards Rainbow. "She said it was creative, though!" He then threw her a slightly offended expression. "And what's wrong with 'Thomas', anyway? It's mah great granddad's name."

Rainbow gave him an apologetic glance. "It's nothing, it's just different from our names. Your names are..." her eyes shot upwards, her entering a mode of thought. She shrugged after a second, apparently unable to find the way to describe them she was looking for. "They're just not like ours. Our names are made of words that are already things or... or can be used to describe things."

"Adjectimitives," Tom said, nodding slightly.

"Adjectives," his father corrected.

"What he said."

Dashie nodded at that. "Yeah, and sometimes they can be used to describe the pony. My name's Rainbow Dash cus I'm gonna be super fast one day!" she said proudly. "And well..." She brushed her mane slightly. "You know," she smiled with rosy cheeks. "I also know another filly named Ditzy who's... kind of ditsy. Her eyes are all like _widdly widdly woo_ too." She demonstrated this by rolling her eyes in two sepperate directions somehow, earning a giggle from Tom.

"I think I see what you mean," Tom said. "Our names used to be like that too, sort of. Though they weren't as..." He grinned slightly. "Cute sounding."

Rainbow huffed at that. "Hey, my name isn't cute! It's super cool and awesome and... and... really cool!"

Tom laughed at that. He was really starting to learn the art of 'annoying the crap out of his new friend' down pat.

* * *

_Alright... alright. I know I said earlier I didn't like making fun of people, but this is different! Everyone knows there's a line between hurting someone's feelings and just pushing their buttons slightly. Besides, Dashie was just too easy!_

* * *

"You see, they'd have names like David Baker or Elizabeth Hunter, the first just being a word and the second describing what they did."

His father shook his head incredulously with a proud smile at him.

Rainbow tilted her head slightly in curiosity. "Why didn't you persons keep it that way? It seems like a neat way of figurin' out who somepony is easily."

Tom shrugged. "I'm not sure why we changed it. Now day names are just somethin' used to separate ourselves from others." A slightly saddened expression crossed his face at that. "I guess all they are are something used when you want to grab someone's attention..."

Dashie gave him a sympathetic glance. "What's in a name, anyway? My teacher always says it's our actions who describe who we are."

"Couldn't other things define us, though? Like our color or our country..." Tom said. "_My_ teacher always says that..."

His father narrowed his eyebrows. "Tom..."

"I never said I believed her! At least not about that..." he objected. "What about the huns, though? Can't you say that they're all evil? Look what they did to your hand and lung, and that's the least of it!"

The dinner table grew silent at that, the conversation having strolled into an awkward territory rather quickly. His father sighed slightly, glancing directly into his son's eyes. "I've told you this many times, kid. Evil, stupidity, good, and intelligence are about equally spread round the world and all its races and nationalities," he then glanced at his hook, narrowing his eyes slightly. "That even counts for the Germans..." he then glanced back at Tom, a slight smile forming on his lips to break the tension. "Your old man's been round a lot of parts. I aint just quoting a book, I know it as a fact. Anyone who tells you otherwise is either lying or needs to open their eyes a bit more."

Tom's mother nodded in agreement,

The boy glanced to the side, however. "Well... I'm not sure if I'll truly believe it til I meet a few, but I'll trust your word for now, pap."

His mother's eyes then gazed upon his father with admiration before she chuckled slightly. "You and your speeches."

He threw her an annoyed look. "Yeah, yeah... better eat that before it gets cold," he said, glancing at her nearly uneaten steak.

With that, she smiled warmly and leaned over to peck him on the cheek, causing him to blush slightly.

"Awwwwww..." Rainbow and Tom cooed in unison before forcing disgusted looks. "I mean... ewwwwwwww!"

Both then looked at each other with rosy smiles before giggling.

With that, the dinner table returned to its usual jolly tone as if nothing had ever happened, everyone drawing near to the end of their meals. Afterwards, both him and Dashie made their way to his room. They began to chat for a bit, each sitting on Tom's bed, his lights off to save electricity leaving only the moon to shine upon the two through the child's lonely window.

"Are you still feeling really hungry?" Tom asked her, worried eyes fixated upon the pony.

Rainbow nodded her head at that, a slight frown on her face. "It's alright though. Ponies can last a long time without food."

Tom nodded, before a moment of silence passed as he entered a brief stint of contemplation.

After a moment, he broke it.

"I'm sorry..." Tom said, glancing away from her slightly with a light frown.

She narrowed her eyebrows. "For what?"

"I think I might have had something to do with you coming here..." he said, his face saturated in guilt.

"How do you think that?" Dashie asked.

"Cus...cus I wished for it!" he lamented. "I wished for a friend to play with." He then sighed. "People live so far away from each other in the country... and with gas prices so high these days... it's just really hard to get to know people."

He then gulped.

"Do you hate me?"

He half expected Rainbow to throw him a disainful look, but to his surprise, she actually smiled.

It shined a brilliant blue in the moonlight.

"Wanna know a secret?" she asked.

Tom nodded, his look of surprise not fading.

"I think we both made wishes. You for a friend to spend time with and me for just... well... just a good friend." She then glanced away from him and rubbing a hoof on his bed. "I mean sure.. I have friends but... they're mainly that out of..."

Her eyes began to grow moist.

"W-Wah?" Tom said, not knowing what to do. "What's wrong, Dashie?"

"It's... It's..."

Her eyes then widened.

"Dashie?"

She remained silent.

"Rainbow?"

A beat.

"I... think it's time for me to go," she finally said, her tone blank.

"N-No," Tom stuttered, his eyes joining hers. "Can't you stay for just a bit longer?"

"I can't... I'm waking up. I can hear a voice... it's my mom."

Tom's eyes widened at that. "I can... hear it too," he said, his voice stunned.

With that, Tom noticed that his violin, it previously blocked by a solid pony head, was now visible. Rainbow Dash was becoming transparent.

"R-Rainbow!" he cried, attempting to wrap his arms around her in a hug, not only to try to keep her there, but out of friendship. However, his arms went right through her.

He growled in frustration.

"I'm sorry Tom..." she said, gulping. A look that could break the heart of Hitler came upon her. "I'll... I'll..."

Before she could finish, she vanished right before his eyes. However, her voice still carried over from across the void for one last message.

"See you later."

The young boy then began to shake slightly, him taking a large, painful breath of air. A second later, his frustration caught up with his sorrow.

"Damnit!" Tom shouted, sending a fist into his mattress, his voice a mix between a growl and a sob. With that, he collapsed, bracing himself for loneliness once again.

* * *

_I wasn't usually the kind of kid to cry, though my dad always said it was alright. I guess it was just my dumb guy pride. However, after that I truly thought I would never see her again, and I had no evidence to the contrary._

_I'm no longer a jackass of a kid though. I've got a tear in my eye right now._


	5. To Infinity and Beyond

_I wept for a good few minutes after that. Yes, I know I had only known her for about six hours but... she was literally the first real friend I've ever had. I'm not sure if that makes me crazy or what, but I don't care. After that, I began to mope around the house, sleep, like it is now, eluding me. I didn't want to concern my parents none, so I kept a straight face round em', though my ma, her naturally being keen to detail, seemed to notice a change in my attitude. She asked what's wrong, and I told her that Rainbow Dash had to go. I'm still not sure why she didn't think I was crazy for mopin' about a supposedly 'imaginary friend' disappearing, but I guess she just blamed it on my overactive imagination. She told me that it's normal for friends to have to go eventually, and that she'll probably be back tomorrow._

_Then it hit me. If Rainbow had come to me today when she went asleep by wishin' to see me, maybe it could work again the next time she... oh lord forgive me for the pun... hit the hay._

_Or maybe it could even work in the reverse direction. The tales she had told me of her homeland had intruiged me. An entire nation, or world, I wasn't quite sure, populated by ponies, ruled by ponies, and cared for by ponies. Maybe I'd be able to see it? At that thought, my mood took a one-eighty and I decided to try my hand at sleeping._

_It was best idea I've ever had. That night I would see it all in more ways than one._

* * *

Tom lay in his bed and counted sheep. It wasn't an easy task trying to sleep with the carrot that was the prospect of seeing Rainbow complete with her homeland dangling in front of him. He was beginning to think it might actually have happened easier if he was sad and not excited. However, after an hour and a warm glass of milk later, he eventually began to snooze. He nodded off once, woke up at a thought, and then nodded off again, and this time it was a little more lasting.

However, after an hour or so he guessed of sleeping, he woke up with a startle, though he soon realized he wasn't awake at all. An odd, bright beam of light was shining threw his ceiling somehow and encasing him within it. He then began to float upwards. Now he had had dreams where he was flying before but it wasn't usually like this. Still though, he wasn't startled at it for some reason. Instead, he felt nothing but neutrality, even when he floated through the ceiling as if he were a ghost.

At that, he began ripping through the sky, his house, barn, and cornfields soon becoming nothing but distant specks after a moment. The beam of light seemed to be of an infinite length, it shining further then he could see into the darkness of space.

And still, despite the fact he had _never_ had a dream like this before, he didn't feel frightened.

He began to fly away from Earth, him now on an intercept path with the moon that had kept him company through so many nights, the beam extending to its surface and disappearing. It didn't matter though, if he went right through his ceiling unharmed then the moon was probably the same deal. He then began to descend to its surface, and there he was beginning to realize that it was not made of cheese. He flew the sphere, and was somehow able to see inside of what he thought would be a dark interior. He flew through its outer rocky layers, its inner dense minerals, and finally an icy core.

Apparently, the moon wasn't hallow as one of his books proclaimed.

He then flew out of the other side and into the darkness of space. Mars came into view in the distance, first a small white speck that gradually turned red before finally growing in size. Naturally, that one piece by Holst was playing through his head at the time. He ripped through its upper atmosphere and descended towards its surface, apparantely on a projectile path that would take him close to it but not crash into it like the moon. He half-expected to see his imagination's version of the _War of the Worlds_ tripods on its surface with a number of strange, evil aliens about them, but alas, there was nothing but barren red rock and dust. Mars, at least according to his mind, was a totally empty place.

Not that he was sad about that, though. The _War of the Worlds_ aliens were bastards anyway.

He then flew out of its atmosphere and towards the edge of the Solar System. He sailed through a large disk of small, icy objects on its edge, apparently something science had never reported before, (or at least nothing he had heard about in any of his books or classes before), before beholding the emptiness of interstellar space.

The beam continued to shine far into the cosmos.

The sun became a speck of light in the distance, and it was soon joined by more specks of light. They soon formed together into a massive, shining disk of millions of them with great spiral arms that licked out into space hanging off of it,. In all its glory, it was the Milky Way. However, after a time that too became nothing but a dot, a dot among many other dots but a dot nonetheless.

He continued to fly deep into the universe, eventually growing so far that even the specks of light that were galaxies in the distance faded into nothingness. Still, he only felt a mild apprehension at this, not fear. He had once had a dream where his mother turned into some sort of squid-monster that tried to eat him, after all. This one at least seemed to be grounded in reality... well, sort of.

Maybe that wasn't the best way to describe it.

Eventually, he spotted something in the vast expanses of nothingness, the beam taking him right to it. It seemed to be two, massive double doors of gray with strange symbols upon it, dwarfing him many times. It was a gate, and as soon as he grew close enough it opened for him. Inside, he saw rolling planes of green and a distant blue skies hanging over them. Was this Equestria?

He grinned in anticipation as he entered this strange, new world. A little visit wouldn't be anything, anyway. He would only be here until he woke up. He flew over said brilliant, shimmering green fields as well as massive blue mountains, his mouth gaping open in awe at the sights. The whole world just seemed to have so much more color then his own. Eventually, he approached a large city, it hanging somewhat perilously off the side of a mountain and composed of a number of old-style buildings. In the center of it was a large, extravagant castle with brilliant towers that challenged the heavens. Was this where Rainbow Dash lived?

He supposed he would find out soon, as the beam of light, now much less visible, was taking him right through the city. There, he got his confirmation that he was where he wanted to be, his eyes widening at the sight. Down below in the city's busy streets were ponies. Oh so many ponies. However, many seemed to be much different from Rainbow Dash. Some had horns instead of wings, and some had neither. Apparently there were more than just pegasi living in this distant land. Also, many seemed to actually be wearing clothes. The clothes were all fancy-like like the ones he had seen on his trip to Montgomery, and some of the horned ponies actually seemed to be wearing _monocols._

_There were unicorns wearing monocols._

If he wasn't so sure this place was real he would have liked to get his head checked after waking up.

There were a multitude of buildings of sort of the same style he had back on Earth. Many sported shop-signs, ones he could read surprisingly, though it made sense that if Rainbow Dash and him spoke the same language then he could probably read its writing as well. The shops seemed to be the same kind you'd find on Earth, except ponified. Instead of shoe shops there were horse-shoe shops, and instead of hair salons and barbershops you'd find mane-care stores. In addition, he saw something labeled 'Starswirl Spellbook Emporium.'

Spellbooks? Were there witches living in Equestria or something?

He shivered at the thought.

Eventually, the castle came into plain view once again, and he sailed right through its outer walls and into what he guessed was some sort of throne. It was an extravagant place, with a large red carpet stretching from two ornate doors all the way to a massive throne (one that strangely enough seemed to be fit for a human, not a pony.) Upon it sat a larger pony that what he had seen before, who had the distinct feature of sporting both wings_and_ a horn. This must have been the immortal princess who Rainbow had spoken of.

Though he couldn't hear exactly what they were saying, she seemed to be in a heated conversation with another pony who stood before her, both struggling to keep their tones in what he guessed was a normally calm and practiced demeanor. The other pony sported a short mane of the same color as his fur, brown, and a strange marking upon his flank, one looking of an hour glass. Unfortunately, he only caught a brief glimpse of this before he flew through another series of walls, out of the castle, and out of the city.

He flew over massive forests and farmlands before eventually sailing over a somewhat large town with a somewhat bell-shaped building in its center he supposed was their town hall. He swooped low over it, spotting a significantly higher number of the non-winged and non-horned ponies here than in their capital city. However, he only had a brief amount of time to gaze upon this place. He gazed upon where the beam of light was taking him, and it appeared to be a large city made entirely out of clouds that bore a somewhat Greek style architecture. It was extravagant and massive, obviously reflecting a culture of a long and expansive history.

And it was beautiful.

He ripped through the skies towards it, feeling no wind against him. Apparently, he was as hallow as Rainbow Dash was on his own planet. It was the reason no ponies had gazed upon his flying figure before. That didn't matter, he would be satisfied with only one pony being able to see him.

And then it struck him.

_"Your house is really weird. Nothing is made of clouds and there are these weird thingies everywhere..."_

Made of clouds...

His eyes widened. So this was Dashie's home.

Giddy with excitement, he wished the beam would carry him faster, and so it did. His eyes widened in surprise as his progress sped up by at least a factor of three. He entered cloud city and immediately had his confirmation that this was where his new friend actually spent her days. There were winged ponies everywhere, and the adult ones and some of the fillies were even flying with them.

First monocol-sporting ponies, now flying ponies. This was getting kind of weird.

And he freakin' loved it.

The city didn't seem to be that much different from the capital, though there were a few additional shops here including a place that sold potions that a sign on the front proclaimed 'will increase your wing-strength to a Wonderbolt level.' He raised an eyebrow. What in the world was a Wonderbolt? And potions? Were there witches here as well? Apparantely, they seemed to be accepted into this society as well. With that, he struggled to fight against the idea that ponies were in league with Satan, eventually shoving the idea to the back of his mind. There was no way in heck that was true.

In addition to the weird shops, he saw something labeled 'Kingdom of Gryphonia Embassy.' He had heard of gryphons before, them being of Greek mythology. Apparantely, Equestria was just one nation it seemed. He wondered how many other nations were out there, as well as other mythological creatures. At this point, he was beginning to have trouble taking everything in. Not only were there talking ponies, but talking gryphons as well? Was this whole world created by the mind of some Greek scholar? It was insane...

He then began to think. Was it possible that the connection had had with Rainbow Dash wasn't the only one that ever existed? Was it possible that in the past other connections were made that eventually led to stories of mythological creatures on Earth?

The implications of this were astronomical.

Still though, he wasn't here to study pony culture like some sort of scientist. He was here for one thing and one thing only, and he supposed that something was within a large house made of clouds that he was heading right towards.


	6. Conquerors of the Skies

"Woah," was all Tom could say after he crashed through what he thought was Rainbow Dash's cloudhouse's walls and skidded to a stop. This 'woah' was due to many things, the least being that he just flown half-way across his universe, through a land essentially filled with aliens, and through a wall. The first and foremost was actually the fact he was standing on a cloud. A light, fluffy, cumulus he had only previously seen flying high above in the sky. The next was the furniture. He was in a living room of sorts, and there was nothing particular odd about it except for the fact the couch seemed to be made for human use and not pony and that it was also _sitting atop clouds_. He shook his head, baffled at this before glancing about a bit more.

He spotted a photo in the far side of the room sitting upon a side table next to the couch. Gingerly, nervously he took his first step towards it, sighing in relief when he didn't plummet through the floor. Now more confident, he made his way over and examined it. In it were two adult pegasi, a stallion wearing what seemed to be a pony version of a military-style blue suit and a mare with a sparkling golden mane and dazzling white fur.

They smiled proudly down upon what the male cradled in his arms, a tiny foal with Dashie's unmistakable rainbow mane. It would have been an adorable sight if they were human, but them being ponies upped the factor by eleven. He smiled warmly at the photo and at the fact he now had confirmation this was where his new friend lived. Still, it was funny that whatever had brought him here had dragged him half-way across the universe but couldn't seem to give him the courtesy of planting him right next to her.

He had barely had time to take in _that_ portion of the trip at this point. It was almost as stunning as seeing Equestria, though nowhere near as interesting. Astronomy wasn't really ever his deal. Still, he began to wonder if Dashie had gone through the same trip, though he quickly shrugged it off.

* * *

_Yeah, oddly enough I never really had some sort of existential meltdown after seeing how large the universe was compared to myself and my tiny little planet. I guess it never really bothered me that much, because why should it? Mah life can still be glorious and epic since it's all I'll ever know. It's from mah perspective and my perspective alone. There's no need to look at everything from such a large point of view, that'd just drive ya crazy. Besides, I'm not even sure if it was real or something my mind made up to help me handle the crossing between two worlds. I'll never know. I suppose I should be lucky that the whole universal road trip only happened once to me, though. Oh and great, here I am philosiphising again. That kind of crap makes my head hurt. Back to the talking ponies!_

* * *

Glancing about the room again, he wondered where Dashie could possibly be. He eventually found the entranceway to the house's kitchen, but it was vacant as well. Like the living room, it had a lot of things his own house had, save for a lack of modern technology. The Dashes didn't seem to have a gas stove, instead of it was a cloud-made fireplace with a single pot hanging off a bar that ran from one top-end to the other. They did have a sink, so it wasn't all medieval, but it still seemed to be a much less technologically advanced society as his own so far. They were ruled by a princess after all, though that made him wonder where their queen was.

There were no other rooms downstairs aside from a small bathroom, so he supposed Dashie may have been upstairs. He went back to the living room and took the flight of stairs he had seen and made his way up. A hallway stretched before him with two doors on the right and one door on the left. He tried to tug on the handle to the one on the right, though he found his hand simply phased through it. Sighing, he then simply walked through it instead. It seemed to be Rainbow's parents' room, it with a double bed and fancy furniture. There was also a large glass case that contained a strange uniform in it. It was a mostly blue full ponybody spandex ordained with streaks of lightning near the 'heels' of it as well as a pair of goggles that hung on the 'face' of it.

Next to it hung the same military-like uniform he had seen Dashie's dad wearing. There were a large number of medals and ribbons upon it he hadn't noticed in the family photo. Her father must have had a pretty high rank, or so it seemed. Near the case was a large photo of a number of pegasi wearing the same blue spandex that hung in the case, all in a large group photo. They crowded around one pony in particular who Tom guessed was Rainbow's father, one holding a piece of paper that had an arrow pointing towards the military pony with words below it that read, 'Property of the Wonderbolts'.

What in the world was a Wonderbolt?

With that question in mind, he exited the room and took the door across from him. Inside was a single bed. He smiled at the sight. So _this_ must have been her room.. He then began to glance around. On the floor were a small number of light dumbbells, five pounders it seemed. On the fluffy cloud walls were a series of fliers and posters, some including those of 'Wonderbolts'.

His heart warmed upon seeing this. Dashie seemed to be as close to her father as he was to his. Maybe he was like a hero to her? Still, it quickly thawed when he realized there was still no Rainbow to be seen...

And then it hit him, and he nearly facepalmed for not thinking of it earlier. Rainbow was probably at school. Well, that was great, except for the fact he had no idea how to navigate around the crazy city in the clouds he was in nor any way to ask for directions. His only options were to try to find the place on his own or wait for Dashie to come home.

Yeah, like a nine year old kid is going to wait around?

Smirking, he left Dashie's room and made his way downstairs. Not wanting to risk walking through a wall and falling to the ground, he opted to find the front door. It wasn't that hard, it being in the living room, and with that he made his way outside. His eyes widened once again at the sight.

Sure, he had seen a bit of city while flying over it, but now here he was; in the thick of it. All around him pegasi of all shapes and sizes made their way to and fro place to place via both wings and hooves. Tom glanced at the sky curiously at this. The sun hung in the East, and if it worked the same way it did on his world then it was probably the early morning rush hour. The boy had never stayed all day in a city before, but he had heard tales of the hustle and bustle of places like New York. It was like that, but with traffic in the skies as well.

There were no fillies or colts to be seen, though, so it seemed his assumption about them all being in school was correct. He took a look around. He seemed to be in a residential area with houses like Rainbow's lining a cloudy 'street' as well as a number of shops. Doughnut shops, hay shops... Tom raised an eyebrow. Coffee shops? Ponies drank coffee? Anyway, lots of shops. In the distance stretched the 'higher' portions of cloud city, them almost like cloudy hills, with larger, greek-style buildings upon it. He also saw something that looked like a stadium, with multi-colored flags sitting atop its rimmed, pillared' walls. It was almost Roman looking.

Not knowing what to do next, he began to walk down the cloudy 'road'. After a minute or so, his eyes widen when a large object obscured his vision. After a second, it revealed itself to be the behind of a male pegasus who continued to trot forward. Dazed, it took him a second to figure out what had happened, and then it hit him; the pegasus had walked through him.

Oh that's right, he was in ghost mode.

Shivering a bit at the oddity of what had just happened, he began to move forward once again.

Eventually, he reached the end of the long road, it diverging into two perpendicular new roads that ran in opposite directions. The one on the right seemed to only lead to more houses, but the one on the left...

Bingo. That was his ticket.

Smiling at his luck, he began to make his way towards a larger, one story cloud building with a sign in front that read, 'CD-12 Elementary'.


	7. Clowns and Gryphons

CD-12 wasn't anything remarkable. In fact, it was about the same size as Tom's school, that being a building about the size of a small warehouse. However, if the number '12' meant anything, apparently the city was littered with schools. Judging by the city's size, that meant there were probably five schools per square mile. His whole county only had one.

He shook his head in slight disbelief with a smile before 'entering' the front of the school, entering meaning phasing through the oddly solid door to the cloudy building. With that, he made is way through a small lobby before peering into its classroom. It, like the school itself wasn't that much different from his own. There was a chalkboard, a ton of desks, and most importantly; a teacher.

She was a somewhat elderly looking mare pegasus with old-style glasses, the kind of sweet old lady who would be someone's favorite grandmother. The only difference about this classroom and his was the fact the desks were made of clouds. He shrugged at this. It must have saved the pegasi cost to build them out of cloud instead of having them made out of regular materials like some of the other furniture he had seen.

There must have been about thirty students in all, all looking very, very bored. He looked around, trying to spot Dashie. Eventually, with his eyes widening with delight, he found her sitting in the back of the class, her cheek against a hoof. He chuckled to himself at that. School wasn't fun on any planet it seemed. Silently, he began creeping towards her.

"Alright class. Today's lesson will be about our neighbors to the East, the Kingdom of Gyphonia," the teacher said, her voice as sweet as he imagined it would be. Apparently, every... pony(?), that's how Rainbow Dash usually said it, had just gotten to school. "Does anybody know anything about the Gryphons?"

"Yeah! Equestria kicked their lion flanks in the Crimson Islands War!" an overly gungho pegasus called from the middle row and earning a disapproving look from the teacher.

A number of other pegasi, both male and female chuckled at that, one even giving him the pony equivalent of a high-five, a hoof-bump to the colt in question Dashie, however, seemed to go alert upon this. Her eyes widened as her hoof moved away from her cheek. Tom could detect a hint of... sadness upon her. His heart sank upon seeing it.

"Now Stormfront, let's try to keep the topic of conversation away from more modern times," the teacher said, trying to keep her voice as civil as possible.

"Blah, who wants to hear about the stinkin gryphons other than stories about them getting stuck!" another pegasus yelled, this one a filly.

"Them getting stuck, eh? Check it out, then. My daddy killed like three in the last war!" another pegasi said proudly.

"No way!"

"Haha! That's awesome."

"Class!" The teacher said, her voice rising in volume. "Keep it civil! This is a very sensitive topic."

The boy could sense a hint of regret in her voice at that as he caught her giving a worried glance towards Rainbow Dash. Apparently this wasn't really the best topic to cover. And this was the attitude of kids in the same city with an embassy to that nation?

At that, Rainbow sunk her head into her arms. Though he wasn't exactly sure why Rainbow was so bothered by this conversation (other than the fact these kids seemed to be very racist), he was now determined to cheer her up. He couldn't judge the colts and fillies, though, for he held the same views on the Germans on his homeworld. They were one of the same. Still though, the fact that there were racist, hateful adorable little ponies and pony wars was really, really strange to him.

He was now ever-so close to Rainbow, him passing in front of a yellow-coated pegasi whose eyes held the same concern as the teacher's as she gazed upon her more gung-ho classmates. Ignoring her for the moment, a second later, he stood by Dashie's desk. At this point, her face was still in her arms. He was trying to think of some cool first-words to say to her, though there was nothing his mind could conjure that didn't sound cheesy. Sighing to himself in defeat, he eventually settled with:

"Hey Rainbow! You have a neat house!"

With that, Dashie's face shot up from her arms, her eyes widened in disbelief.

"T-Tom?!" She nearly spat.

Tom grinned at that, not only out of amusement from her reaction but at the fact that she could still see him. It did truly work two ways. If it would continue that way, he'd have the most interesting 'imaginary' friend a kid could have.

"Haha! You should see the look on your face."

"Rainbow?" her teacher asked, raising an eyebrow her way. "Who's Tom?"

Dashie threw her an embarrassed look. "Uhhhh... nothing Ms. Sweetsong, just woke up from a..." she smirked slightly. "A very weird dream."

"Oh, alright dear," Sweetsong replied, her smiling Rainbow's way slightly.

She then looked back towards Tom, her face riddled in disbelief. "How in the... how did you get here?!" she whispered.

"The same way you got here, a big universal road trip!" Tom beamed.

"Wah?" Rainbow said, raising an eyebrow.

Tom gazed at her curiously. "You know... flying through space, seeing the galaxies melt away to nothing... or in your case I guess the galaxies would be..."

Dashie furrowed her brow in confusion. "Tom, I have no idea what you're talking about...'

"Y-You don't?" Tom said. "Wait a minute... do you remember how you got to my house? What was the first thing you saw when you went to bed?"

Rainbow thought for a second before saying, "all I remember was waking up in your corn field and seeing that weird gas masked imaginary trooper attacking you." She then grinned deviously. "And you know what that means? Since I could see your imaginary creations in your universe that means... well, turn around..."

Tom cocked an eyebrow at this. His trap senses were tingling, but nonetheless he complied around only to be faced with...

His eyes widened in horror.

There, standing before him was a clown... A _PONY_ CLOWN.

"OH SWEET JESUS!" he shrieked before stumbling backwards and through Rainbow's desk. He caught himself right before he toppled over. Dashie could barely contain her laughter at that, holding an arm to her mouth in an attempt to muffle it as Tom performed a vain attempt to compose himself.

"That was just cruel," he said, shooting her a glare. "I told you I hated clowns!"

Seriously, there should have been a Geneva Convention for comedians and pranksters that forebode that kind of thing.

"Oh relax, it was all in good fun," Rainbow said, sticking a tongue out and evaporating the evil thing. Eventually though, her face morphed into a smile. "Still, it's really good to see you."

"Minus the horrible abomination you just produced..." Tom returned the smile. "Likewise."

"But yeah, so you got here by sleeping too?" she asked, her voice still a whisper.

Tom nodded at that. "Yeah, when I was falling asleep I wished really hard to see you again and well... here I am." he then glanced around the room, chuckling slightly. "And you thought my planet was weird..."

"Heh, well, it's really only like this in Cloudsdale."

"I know," Tom nodded.

Rainbow quirked her head. "Huh, how did you know? I never told you."

"Well.. I kind of flew here. I saw a lot of Equestria, including that princess person you were talking about... at least I think it was her."

Dashie's eyes widened. "You saw Princess Celestia?!"

"Bout three feet tall, wears a golden crown and has wings and a horn?"

Rainbow nodded rapidly.

"Yep, I saw her then, though it was only for a second when I flew right through her throne room."

"Wow, that's so cool!" Dashie beamed. She then narrowed her eyebrows. "But wait, you can't fly!"

"Not on my own," Tom said. "Have you ever flown in your dreams before? It was kind of like that... only twenty-times crazier. I wasn't in control of where I was goin' though."

Dashie shook her head in disbelief. "That is so weird..." she then pouted slightly, "I wish I got to fly when I visited you..."

Tom glanced at her sympathetically. "Maybe you'll be able to do it next time you fall asleep?"

Her face perked up at that. "That'd be cool! I kind of want to see a little bit more of your world..."

As the two conversed, they failed to realize that the yellow-coated pegasi was gazing at them. "Um... Rainbow... if you don't mind me asking... who are you talking to?" she said, her voice almost like a mouse's squeak. Tom smiled brightly at it. It was so adorable.

"Ummmmm..." Rainbow said, her mind desperately trying to come up with an excuse. Eventually though, she sighed and leaned towards the pony. "Can you keep a secret, Fluttershy?" she whispered.

The petite yellow pony nodded lightly.

"I'm talking with a creature called a person who I met on another planet during my dreams that only I can see. He's really afraid of clowns."

Tom nodded at that. Indeed, clowns were the bane of existence. He then waved at her with a smile.

Fluttershy merely gazed at Dashie blankly, though.

"Oh... uh..."

A beat.

"Ummmm..."

She narrowed her eyebrows, unable to think of what to say.

"Neat?"

Tom nearly burst into laughter.

Rainbow chuckled. "Yeah, it's weird."

Fluttershy then smiled slightly. "He's afraid of clowns?"

Rainbow and Tom nodded. "Mhmmm, and I don't know why; clowns are hilarious!" Rainbow beamed.

The yellow pony shivered at that. "I wouldn't say that..."

Tom smiled her way. Clowns didn't just suck to him, it seemed.

Rainbow rolled her eyes incredulously. "I'll never get the two of you. Especially you, Tom. How can you not be afraid of creepy gas-masked soldiers but when clowns come calling you go into rabbit mode?"

"It's just..." he paused, shaking his head. "Clowns..." he shivered.

"Fluttershy, Rainbow! I hope you're talking about gryphon history back there," the teacher said sternly.

Both of their eyes widened before they turned towards the teacher. "Uhhhh... Sorry Ms. Sweetsong."

They then sweat-dropped.

Sweetsong sighed slightly, a hint of a smile forming on her face. "Just try to pay attention, alright?" she said, her voice still stern but taking on a sweeter tone.

"Yes Ms. Sweetsong..." the two reluctantly replied.

The two pegasi continued to gaze forward as the teacher rekindled her lesson. She was currently talking about ancient gryphon history, or so Tom thought. Something about how an ancient, evil mage of a species... or people called Teranids once fused lions and eagles together in order to make the world's first chimeras. Apparently, they were to be used to conquer some place called Algaria, home of the Arctic Vættir and... yeah...Tom's head was about to burst. She was making so many references to things and places he had no clue about. This lesson was going to be impossible for him to follow unless he really payed attention, and his curious side really wanted him to. This world was just so much less boring than his own.

With that, he heard Dashie whisper, "We can talk about it a bit more after class..."

Tom twirled around to see her leaning towards Fluttershy again, apparently confident the teacher's gaze was averted.

"Hey Dashie, is this lesson important or something? I mean... we'll probably have all day to spend time together and stuff," Tom said, simpering.

Dashie shook her head with a cocky smirk. "Na, it's nothing, and it's so freakin' boring anyway..." she whispered.

Tom furrowed his brow. "I don't think it's boring."

Dashie rolled her eyes. "You would, ya egghead!"

Tom smirked. "And you're saying you wouldn't be curious about a whole nother' world's history?"

Dashie made a 'hmph' sound before folding her arms. "Nope!" she said.

The boy folded his arms as well. "I'll hold you to that if you pay me a visit while I'm at school, then."

Rainbow's eyes widened at that, but nontheless she quickly re-forced her apathetic glance. Tom's smirk widened at it, forcing an eventual sigh from Dashie.

"Oh alright!" she finally groaned. "Though only a little..."

"I have an idea, then," Tom said. "We both pay attention and then later I can help you with your homework or something."

Rainbow threw him a look that could warm the heart of a banshee. "You'd seriously do that for me?"

Tom merely smiled. "What are friends for?"

* * *

_Huh..._

_Mmmmm..._

_Hermmm..._

_Mehhhhh..._

_Yeah, that was pretty cliche..._


	8. To Be a Pegasus

"So then I got to know Tom's family a little better at dinner. Can you believe this though, they actually eat meat! It's so gross."

"M-Meat?" Fluttershy asked as her. "You mean... they eat other animals?!"

Rainbow Dash nodded, her face as firm with disbelief as Fluttershy's.

Tom rolled his eyes at that. "We have to eat meat, though. Without it we wouldn't be as strong and healthy."

"Still though, bleh!" Dashie said, sticking out a tongue.

The three of them sat in a small playground outside of CD-12 during their version of recess. Tom's school had been one of the few lucky ones to still have playground equipment that was bought before the depression. It was rusty, but still usable at least. The ponies had similar things to them; swings, slides, that kind of thing, though they were completely made out of clouds. The pegasi used the former in what must have been a much more fun manner than humans, though. Even the ones without the ability to fly (and there were quite a few who could, some, to Tom's chagrin, even Dashie's age) could get a lot of air-time by fluttering their tiny wings after leaping off the swings when they were high enough. Their swings were also much higher than the ones on Earth, the pegasi using their wings to propel themselves to incredible heights. Tom had to admit he was feeling a little envious at their natural gift.

"W-What'd your friend say?" Fluttershy peeped.

"That he needs to eat meat," Dashie replied. She then grunted in annoyance. "Mph, if there was only some way for you two to talk and stuff..." she mused.

"I'm sorry, I'll leave if I'm being a bother..." The yellow pony said softly.

"Oh it's no sweat, Fluttershy," Dashie said.

"Yeah, it's no problem," Tom agreed. "Gosh... I feel bad for her; she just seems so timid," Tom whispered Dashie's way despite the fact that was completely unnecessary.

Dashie nodded at that.

"What'd he just say?" Fluttershy asked curiously before sulking her head slightly. "I mean... if it's alright for me to know and all."

Rainbow grinned her way. "Tom just wants you to know he thinks you're a really cool pony and wants you to stick around."

Tom nodded in vigorous agreement despite the fact he had never said such a thing. He wished he had, though.

"R-Really?" Fluttershy said, a small smile creeping on her face as her wings swung open. Tom gazed at this curiously. It was one of the things he had noticed about these ponies; whenever they became excited their wings would spread and stick up. He found it to be kind of funny, actually.

"Oh... thank you, Tom," Fluttershy said, glancing towards him. She must have noticed where Dashie was turning her head when Tom spoke.

Dashie then explained to Fluttershy how she had gotten home, and like she said earlier, she didn't have any sort of experience of flying through space. Tom shook his head in disbelief at that. He couldn't have simply imagined it, could he? Or did it simply work different for him? He supposed he'd find out when he got back home, he supposed.

"So you can enter each other's worlds by sleeping?" Fluttershy asked, her face riddled with disbelief.

"Yep! We don't know if it's a permanent thing though."

At that, their bonding time was cut short when Sweetsong's whistle blew.

"Ah shoot. Back to boring old lectures on gryphons..." Dashie said, a hint of spite in her voice.

Tom perked an eyebrow at this. "You don't like gryphons? I think they're kind of cool. They have a really interesting history. A group of animals who were created for the sole purpose of warfare becoming a civilized society-"

"They're anything but _civilized_" Dashie spat, taking Tom by surprise. He had never expected any sort of hatred to come out of his cyan friend's mouth. Sure she was fairly aggressive but never spiteful. "They're a bunch of nasty, angry birds is what they are. Nothing else."

"Come on, they can't all be like that..." Tom reasoned.

"You said yourself, they were made for the purpose of war by that Teranid mage. They're like our version of the 'huns' you keep mentioning." Dashie's eyes narrowed in a glare, though it didn't seem to be at Tom.

That was enough to shut Tom up. Thinking quickly, he found a way to change the subject. "What's a Teranid anyway?"

Dashie shrugged at that. "We had a lesson on them one day but..." she grinned sheepishly. "I kind of fell asleep during it."

The farm boy shot her a smirk.

"What?!" She said defensively. "I was up late the night before trying to get these stupid things to work..." She glanced at her wings, her mood dropping once again. "I never really did..."

Tom shot a reassuring smile her way. "Hey, no sweat. You've got to be the most driven person.. pony I know. One of these days..."

A sliver of a smile came on her face. "Thanks Tom, but I say that every day and nothing ever comes of it," she sighed.

Fluttershy, who had been listening quietly to the conversation, apparently not feeling that joining in would be prudent, finally spoke up, "you know, I can't fly either," she said.

Dashie gazed at her in disbelief. "But your wings... they seem so strong."

Fluttershy drew a hoof against the cloudy ground at that. "They aren't that strong... and it doesn't bother me that much not anyway..."

"How can you not want to fly, though?!" Dashie asked.

"Well... earth ponies and unicorns do fine without it... I figure even if I never learn to fly I can just move to the ground..."

"B-But we're pegasi!" Dashie complained. "The skies _belong_ to us! Every pegasus needs to fly..."

"Maybe..." Fluttershy squeaked. "But sometimes I don't think it matters what everybody else is doing as long as we... well... enjoy what we're doing ourselves."

"But what about the jerks who make fun of us!?"

"It's not like everypony cares that much," she said. "Would you look down on me if you could fly and I couldn't?"

Tom couldn't help but smile her way. While she was shy, it seemed to hide a smart interior. She seemed brighter than him, at least.

"Well...no..." Dashie grunted. "It still doesn't mean I'm not going to give it my all, though. One day I'm going to show all the pricks who make fun of us for being stunted what it means to be a true pegasus, just like my father before me. Noble, strong, brave, and ready to take on anything thrown at Equestria! I'm not going to be some pansy bully who puts down others for their own kicks."

"Wait, the pegasi do the fighting for Equestria?" Tom asked.

"Yep!" Dashie said proudly. "We make up the bulk of the military. Even most of Celestia's guards are sporting a pair of these babies," she said, glancing at her wings. "A long time ago before the three races came together, _we_ were a mighty tribe of warriors. While the other two races were interested in politics, magic weaving, and farming, we were busy keeping the murderous Eastern Naga and Wolves out of pony lands!"

"So your history is boring, huh?" Tom chuckled.

Dashie huffed in annoyance. "Well... no... the _cool_ history isn't boring. Anyway, nowdays we defend Equestria from not only the gryphons to the east, but the southern Badland Wolves, rogue dragons, the remaining vættir and void shadows to the north, and the changeling threat within."

Tom's eyes widened. "D-Did you just say dragons?"

Fluttershy eeped at that as well, shivering slightly upon the mention of them.

Rainbow nodded at that. "Yeah, they aren't anything to mess with either. Most of them can grow as big as Celestia's palace, some even bigger."

Both Tom and Fluttershy gulped. "I think I'm glad I'm stuck in ghost-mode while here..."

Fluttershy glanced at Rainbow pleadingly. "Can we please change the subject... if that's alright," she squeaked.

Dashie rolled her eyes with a chuckle. "Don't worry, you two. They rarely show up anymore."

"The key word there is _rarely,_" Tom noted. He then composed himself slightly. "What about the Naga, though. What happened to them?"

Rainbow's eyes narrowed. "We wiped them out. All of them."

The farm boy's eyes widened in horror. "Equestria did?! They weren't smart like you and I, right?"

"Oh, they were plenty smart alright. But no, the Pegasi Tribe did under the rule of Commander Hurricane right before the Great White Winter." She tilted her head in thought. "It's not really the most... liked thing in our history.."

Tom shook his head, befuzzled. "One that's going to take me forever to learn..."

Rainbow chuckled before sticking out her tongue. "What are you, a historian now? You should be focusing on that music of yours..." she then cocked a grin. "And hanging out with me. Bet you can't beat me in a race back to the school!"

"Dashie, I've got legs of steel!" Tom bragged. "You forget I work on a farm."

"Well, let's put them to the test cowboy!" Dashie challenged with a friendly smirk.

Tom laughed at that. "Oooooh you are so going down now. Ya may have four legs but my two can keep up with em' all the same."

"W-What are you two doing?" Fluttershy asked.

"Racing," Rainbow said, her cocky smirk not fading. "Wanna join in?"

"Oh... no... how about I play referee?" she eeped.

"Sure, not like we're going to need one though. Tom isn't going to see the finish line behind my dust trail!"

Tom glanced at the cloudy ground with a quirked eyebrow. "But there's no-"

"On your mark!" Dashie called.

Tom lined up by her, gazing ahead at the schoolhouse with feigned confidence. Despite the fact they'd been walking towards it, it was still about a good thirty yards away, them having been on the far end of the rather large playground. Tom was a decent sprinter, and his work on the farm had raised stamina by a ton. However, despite what he said, he still wasn't that confident he could beat a four-legged creature in a race with his measily two, especially if Dashie used her wings to propel her like he had seen the fillies and colts do on their swings. Nevertheless, it'd hurt his pride more to deny a challenge than to fail in one.

It was on.

"Get set!"

To the side, he could see Dashie running a hoof across the cloudy surface; a pony preparing to gallop. Tom gulped slightly, but nonetheless quickly recomposed himself.

"GO!"

They were off. Tom had put his all into an initial burst of speed, hoping to gain a quick advantage over Dashie to demoralize her. He had achieved this, but only slightly. When he glanced back Rainbow was gaining on him, her eyes narrowed in resolve and still joined by her smirk. Suddenly, a thought occurred to him.

"You know, you're going to look silly running for no apparent reason!" Tom huffed, gazing at the small amount of but still numerable students who had yet to make it inside the school.

"Oh now that's a cheap trick. Trying to make me give up?!"

The farm boy shook his head. That truly was only his... secondary intention. "No, I'm just-"

"Hah!" Dashie said, gaining a lead on him, her tail swishing furiously in the wind. Surprisingly though, she wasn't using her wings at all.

Tom grunted at this before putting his all into making his legs move as quickly as possible. With an extra boost of energy he had no idea he still had, he quickly pulled neck and neck with Rainbow. Glancing forwards, he saw they were now closing in on the school house, and to his disbelief, it actually seemed like it was going to be a draw.

That was until Tom was forced to a screeching halt, his eyes widening in terror for the second time today.

Standing at the side of the school was that same damned pony clown. It wasn't doing anything in particular, it was just standing there... menacingly. However, that was still enough to send his mind into a panic.

"CLOWN AT 12 O'CLOCK!" Tom shrieked, actually backing away from the school now. In the meantime, Rainbow had touched the side of the cloudy building and was now laughing hysterically. It then hit him what had happened.

"RAINBOW!"

He had been bamboozled for the second time today! With that, Tom facepalmed himself, him sighing in shameful defeat.

* * *

_I solemnly swear..._

_Once I'm done with the Germans... I will begin my war against..._

_Dramatic pause..._

_More of a dramatic pause..._

_The clowns!_

_Anyway, after that me n' Dashie sat through a very, very boring lesson on pony economics. Apparently their system is even more medieval than their houses. You see, they use coins called 'bits.' There aren't nickel and dime-like bits, you know, worth different amounts, just golden one-bit bits. I suppose they have other ways of making payments, maybe bit-checks or something like that for the larger ones, but I never saw em'. I wish I had been paying a bit more attention during it so maybe I would know now. Unfortunately (or fortunately), me n' Dashie had just spent the entire lesson imagining funny-lookin versions of ourselves._

_Yeah, as it turns out the whole imagination thing worked two ways. We could see each other's creations in both worlds, and that would turn out to be a pretty darn sweet deal. One of the renditions of Rainbow Dash I conjured up, this one called 'Sweet Home Alabama Dashie', her having two large buck teeth and a dumb-lookin grin on her face, was something that needed to be seen by somebod- somepony, at least. It was darn good work of imaginary art. However, she got back at me by making a version of myself with overly large arms and a big nose. Even I had to laugh out loud at it._

_The class started going by more quickly after that, and soon enough we were out the door and walking towards Dashie's house. Despite the fact I had already seen it, she seemed more than excited to show me it all over again._

_Unfortunately though, we ran into a bit of trouble on the way..._

* * *

Three colts with brown fur blocked Dashie and Tom's path on the cloudy road that led to her house, each with wicked looking smiles on their faces.

"Hey guys, look! It's the little bird who never could!" one of them laughed, pointing at a red-faced Dashie.

The cyan pony growled his way. "Go eat manure, Stormfront."

"Yeah, seriously. 'The little bird who never could?' That's the best insult they could come up with?" Tom chided.

"Ooooooh, look who's got more attitude today," a brown colt next to Stormfront cackled.

Stormfront then took a threatening step forward, inching closer to Dashie's face, her glaring daggers at him as he did so.

"We saw ya runnin' back to the schoolhouse today after recess," Stormfront said. "Good thinking. Gotta train up on those legs if you can't ever use your wings!"

"Ignore em', Dashie. We both know they're already full of what you told em' to eat," Tom said. "Let's just walk around." He gestured to the side.

Rainbow, however, would hear none of it. She took a step forward towards Stormfront, her face now inches from his. He seemed slightly taken aback by this; apparently Dashie sticking up for herself wasn't something they were used to. "I will too be able to use them, and one day I'll be faster than the three of you combined!" she growled.

Stormfront quickly composed himself laughed in her face. "Yeah right! All you do is slack off all day in class. I doubt you've got the ambition to train your wings, either!" His nasty little smirk then returned to his face.

"This coming from the clowns who wouldn't shut up about the gryphons and let your teacher talk... definite signs of ambition there," Tom snarked.

"I just don't care about stupid stuff like pony history, and neither do you three! I see you three sleeping in class all day too, you know!" she said angrily.

Stormfront and his two cronies seemed to be taken aback by that. He inched slightly away from her face. "Well... uh... it's cus we're so smart we don't need to!"

The other two nodded in agreement.

"Yeah right. A Changeling drone has more brainpower than you three, now get out of my freakin' face!"

The three stood there somewhat dumbstruck, not budging, their tiny brains desperately trying to think of new ways to come back at the mare who had stood up for herself. It was then that Tom had an idea. Concentrating hard, the world became a canvas to him. With a mental brush he quickly modified the three colt's faces, giving them overly large snouts and bucked-teeth. They were now even dumber looking than before.

Dashie realized what had happened immediately, and with that she turned her head towards Tom with an appreciative smile. Soon, she began to chuckle at the trio of bullies, their faces becoming riddled with confusion. They didn't seem to know how to respond to that, either.

"What's so funny, dodo?!" Stormfront asked.

"It's your faces!" Dashie giggled.

The three glanced at each other. Somewhat self-consciously, the one who hadn't spoken before asked, "what's wrong with my face?"

Stormfront then cleared his throat. "Whatever, let her laugh, she's probably crazy in the head!" he then tilted his head to the side. "Let's just get out of here..."

With that, the trio of bullies cleared the street, Dashie still giggling. She then turned towards Tom, another warm, appreciative smile coming his way. "I hate to sound cheesy for the fifth time today, but you seriously are the best friend anypony could have, you know that, right?"

Tom returned the warm smile. "Those three definitely had it coming, and it definitely felt good. I come from a place where it's seen well for everyone to stick together, the times being tough and all. 'Putting people down to prop themselves up don't do anyone good', my pap always says, 'because in the end we're all equally in the hole, and no amount of name calling will ever boost you out of it'. Cus of that, I can't stand bullies... pony or human, especially if they're messing with _you_."

Dashie quirked an eyebrow, her smile not fading. "So that's what you're called? Humans?"

Tom blushed slightly, rubbing a hand on the back of his head. "Yeah, it's silly. I don't know why I said we were called 'persons' before."

"Humans..." Dashie said, sounding it out, her entering a mode of deep thought. "Kind of a neat word... Why does it ring a bell, though?" Her eyes then widened. "Wait a minute..." With a gasp, she suddenly began to dart back towards her house.

"Woah, wait up Dashie! My legs still hurt from earlier!" Tom called.

"But I have something I want to show you! Come on!"


	9. Author's Note

Heyo, to save myself some trouble I'm just going to be posting on fimfiction from now on. You can find the link here:

story/44968/Wings

Sorry for any inconvenience.


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